Page 53 of Priceless
She bit her lower lip, and I wanted to free it, if only for the chance to kiss her there. “I feel bad for leaving.”
“Why?”
“Because everything is so stunning, I don’t want to waste it.”
“Geneva will make sure everything that can be used again is either donated or brought home for us. I’m more worried about you.”
She leaned on me a little more. “I’m sorry. But yes, I think I’m ready.”
“Okay, beautiful.” There was doubt in her eyes again, and like hell was I going to have her doubting herself every time I called her that. But it would take time for her to believe it. “What’s your favorite flower?”
She tilted her head. “Why?”
“Humor me.”
I craved that tiny smile. Hopefully, in time, she’d give us her real one. “I have a lot. I know that’s not really how favorites work, but it’s true.”
“What are they?”
Ocean shook her head slowly. “Probably too many. Roses, of course. Lilacs. Bluebells. Certain kinds of lilies. Cherry blossoms.”
Hmm, nothing that quite rolled off the tongue. An idea popped into my head. That could work. “Would you mind if I called you princess?”
That little crease between her eyes appeared. I already knew it meant she was confused and puzzling something out. “Why call me that? You can call me by my name.”
“You’re my wife,” I murmured. “I want something to call you that no one else gets to. There are lots of things I want to call you, actually. And every time I call you beautiful, you look at me like I’m lying.”
Her mouth opened and closed. Her throat moved in a swallow. “What else do you want to call me?”
Still moving us gently around the dance floor, I leaned down to whisper in her ear. The way she shuddered had me wanting to sprint with her to the car. I needed to feel that shudder everywhere. “I want to call you beautiful. I want to call you my wife. If you’ll let me, sometimes I’d love to call you baby girl. But I understand that those might be a lot. So princess will do for now. Is that all right?”
She nodded. I felt it where her cheek pressed against mine. “Yeah.”
“Good.” I moved back, but only far enough to kiss her. She melted beneath my mouth, the sweetness of frosting still lingering and beneath that, the sweetness that was her.
“Let’s go, wife. I want to take you home.”
She bit her lip again, and that only made me move faster.
After the photographs of us getting into the car in a shower of pale purple rose petals, the four of us were nearly silent as we drove. Ocean looked out the window. I kept her hand in mine, and she didn’t seem to mind, but I also knew it was strange for her.
The gates to our estate opened, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. Here we could be ourselves, and hopefully Ocean would feel the same. It was late in the afternoon and trending toward evening. We could take our time and do what we liked.
I knew what we wanted to do, and we’d already told her we wanted the marriage to be real, but I wasn’t sure she was ready.
“Your things are all here,” I told her as the driver pulled up to the door. “I don’t think all of them are unpacked yet, but the staff will take care of the rest of it tomorrow. I know Ruby made sure all your clothes are put away.”
“That was nice of her.”
Our Omega sounded tired.
Everett helped her out of the car and kept his arm around her as we went inside. I couldn’t help but look at our home the way she might. Would she like it? Our place was almost the exact opposite of the Caldwell Estate. The place was beautiful, but very traditional. Dark woods and elaborate trim. Stately, almost. Ours was light and modern, open and airy when it called for it.
“We’ll give you a tour, of course,” Everett said. “But do you want to take off your dress first?”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ll ever wear, but it’s not easy.”
“No, I imagine not.”
